1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer graphics and, in particular, to a system and method for steganographic image display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Steganography is the science of obscuring a desired message or image from a casual observer so that, through the use of the correct key, an observer can un-obscure the desired message or image. One typical example of using steganography to obscure an image involves cereal box hidden message decoders. A cereal box may include a piece of colored plastic that, when placed over an obscured image printed on the cereal box, reveals the hidden image. The image that is printed on the cereal box is typically a muddled image that does not portray a desired or valuable image. For example, the image that is printed on the cereal box may be a “noise field” that is meant to hide the hidden image.
One problem with conventional steganographic techniques for obscuring hidden images is that often the observer can detect that a hidden image is being concealed. In some steganographic techniques, the desired image is visually present in the image that is observed by the observer, but is at least partially obscured. Typically, the observer can often see a “hint” of the image, even by viewing without any particular decoder. This creates a puzzle-breaking psychology, where the observer knows that an image is being hidden and seeks to detect the hidden image without any decoder.
A second problem is that the image viewed by the observer without a decoder is not an interesting image. As described, often the hidden image is obscured by a noise field. The noise field added to the hidden image creates an undesirable and uninteresting image.
As the foregoing illustrates, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for steganographic image display.